The Rocket

Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: Sports

I am now in my sixth year at SRU. I have seen a lot of things in the time it took me to get my degree, many of which have gotten me fired up. One of those things is a bandwagon fan, namely the Pittsburgh Penguins or Steelers kind.

Let me start by saying that I salute the true fans of Pittsburgh. The ones that have been around cheering through the lean years that the Penguins and Steelers have endured, the ones that live and die with the Black and Gold.

There are some fans however that give die-hard fans a bad name. It's not only happening in Pittsburgh, but all over the country. These "fans" only come out and cheer when the going is good. I like to call them "feel-good fans" because they only cheer when everything feels good.

Take, for example the Boston Red Sox, of which I am a die-hard fan. I grew up loving them. I suffered through the heartbreaking losses and the Aaron "F---ing" Boone homerun. Now, granted, I don't live in Boston, so I can't tell you what they had to be going through until 2004, but I can tell you this: After the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, it seemed as if EVERYBODY was a part of Red Sox Nation. You saw shirts and hats being worn by people who just wanted to be part of the feel-good story. They weren't true fans at all. They were simply bandwagon jumpers.

It happens all the time. A team wins and suddenly its fan base grows by a few million.

Let me go back to the Steelers. They won the Super Bowl in 2006. Jerome Bettis finally got the ring he coveted, and better yet, he got it in his hometown of Detroit. During their run to the Super Bowl, the Steelers picked up some fans. Fans who claim they love the Steelers, yet when they struggle, are the first to put away the gear and state that they never liked them in the first place.

Now look at the Penguins. They are finally good after years and years of terrible hockey.

All of a sudden, the fans are coming out from the rocks they have been hiding under the last several years.

The home games are being sold-out at a record pace.

But where were all these "fans" when the Penguins were the laughingstock of the league? Where were they when Dick Tarnstrom was the leading scorer?

They were probably at home rooting for whatever team was winning that year.

Sports is something that a lot of us keep near and dear to our hearts. I know I certainly do. I know I yell and scream at the TV all the time, just like many of you reading this probably do. We live for our teams. We feel it when they lose and when they win.

I know losing from experience, because with the exception of the Red Sox winning it all in '04, my teams-the Miami Dolphins, the New York Rangers and the Chicago Bulls-have had some pretty terrible seasons in the last five or six years.

But there I am, game after game, rooting for my teams. It doesn't matter if the Fins go 3-13 or if the Rangers attempt to buy a championship, only to fall flat on their faces.

I don't care that, until recently, the Bulls could barely beat a team full of ninth graders.

It didn't matter. I would have sat there and watch them lose to Seneca Valley's junior varsity team, so long as I got to see them play.

Rooting for a winning team is fun, but not everyone can do it. It pains me to say this, but Philadelphia fans are some of the greatest around.

Their teams haven't won a championship since the Civil War, but they keep on cheering, hoping that next season will be the one they have been waiting all their lives for.

That is what being a fan is all about.

To me, the best fans you will ever see wear orange and brown. Yes, that is right, I am talking about Cleveland Browns fans.

They lost their team years ago when Art Modell packed them up and moved to Baltimore, which, I must say, is a pretty damn good team.

The current Browns are pitiful and they have been since the came back to the league.

Yet at every home, game the Dawg Pound is packed.

Win or Lose.

Now those are fans!

That is one area where you can brag about, and say you're better than the Steelers.

My point is, fans should love their teams no matter what. Who cares if your team is the worst in the league or hasn't had a winning record in 16 straight seasons.

You are going to have your ups and downs as a fan. One year you are winning it all, and the next you're playing for a draft pick.

Just be patient. Your time will come.

Unless of course you root for the Cubs.

Then you are doomed.

Brandon Fox is an English graduate student and the sports editor for The Rocket.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools